The Roundup for January 23, 2013

? “More young Syrians disillusioned by the revolution: Many educated, middle-class Syrians who had embraced the opposition now feel alienated by its drift toward extremism–and are aligned with neither side.”

? “Pentagon faces a rebel yell over pensions“. In-a-nutshell: “It is a perfect storm of rising pensions, salaries and healthcare costs. At some point we will be faced with making choices between new weapon systems or entitlements.”

? After winning re-election in November, Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) has decided to “take over a job as head of one of Washington’s largest and most influential trade associations”, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association which just happens to have been “the largest single contributor to her re-election campaigns”.

? A CNN poll found that: 49% agree that “global warming is a proven fact and is due to emissions from cars, power plants and factories”; 53% want the federal government to be “developing a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to become legal residents”, a reversal from 2011 when 55% approved deportation.

? VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) , who will likely run for governor in November, is comparing “his fight against the contraception coverage mandate found in ‘Obamacare’ to the non-violent civil rights struggle led by Martin Luther King, Jr.” Puh-leeze!

? Gen. John Allen, embroiled in the Petraeus-Broadwell affair, sent emails to another party to the mess, Jill Kelley. Gen Allen has been cleared of wrong-doing by the Pentagon. Seems “there were in fact only several hundred emails exchanged between the two” [emphasis added] although “Some of the messages are not the sort of things you would print in a family newspaper”. No military regulations violated, however, so all’s good.

? Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation amending the criminal code “to make it illegal to purchase firearms on behalf of persons who are prohibited from owning them.”